Beginnings
by Mendys
Summary: Sarah Jane Smith and Alan Jackson. The beginning of a beautiful friendship. Set after Revenge of The Slitheen.


Author's Note: I've absolutely adored The Sarah Jane Adventures since it first aired and I was absolutely fascinated by the dynamic between Sarah Jane and Maria's father Alan.

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><p>You were heading across the street before you even really thought about it. Dinner was over and Maria was safely ensconced in her room, doing whatever homework they had assigned the first few days. You'd finished with your work earlier, despite the numerous interruptions from the power outage, Chrissie's arrival, and the odd sort of eclipse the news was probably still explaining. In all the excitement, you had nearly forgotten the abbreviated conversation you'd had with Sarah Jane Smith from across the road, but when you'd thought of it, you found yourself wanting to continue it.<p>

The door was quickly answered and Luke was standing on the other side, smiling when he realized it was only you. "Hello, Mr. Jackson. How are you?"

"I'm good, Luke. Is your mum around?" You started hoping you weren't interrupting their supper. You tended to eat early so you and Maria could spend some time together before homework and bed, but you also knew it wasn't a universal schedule.

"Mum! It's Mr. Jackson!" Luke called, standing aside to let you in. As he headed for the stairs, Sarah Jane Smith walked in through another doorway.

"Hello, Mr. Jackson," she greeted you warmly, a far cry from her welcome to the neighborhood a few days ago, and you relaxed a bit. The last thing you wanted to do was intrude.

"I hope I'm not interrupting your work, or anything like that. I bring my own work home sometimes, so I understand not wanting to be interrupted."

"No, not at all. I have a bit before I was going to start. Come in. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, actually, we finished it off about half an hour ago. I was actually hoping to continue our talk from earlier. You were asking me about Park Vale and the work I did for it?"

"Oh, that." Sarah Jane Smith nodded, as if it was just coming back to her. "It turns out I was worrying over nothing. Sometimes I get caught in unimportant details and for someone with a wild imagination, I suppose the idea of a big empty space was a fascination. Tea?"

"Yes, if you're making it." Though now you weren't sure what else you'd have to say while sipping a cup of tea with your new neighbor, you're not the sort to refuse. "I hope Maria doesn't get wind of it. She's got a bit of an imagination herself. She could get it in her head to go exploring." You had hoped she could make a fresh start. Whatever else Chrissie was off about, she had always been right about Maria's friends in the old neighborhood. Bad influence, most of them, and good riddance.

"Speaking of Maria," Sarah Jane sat down, gesturing to you to do the same, "She really is a marvelous young girl. She was with me and Luke when the outages started and I was amazed at how calm she remained." You noticed her glancing furtively at you as she complimented your daughter, probably wondering if you even cared what she thought.

"Maria's brilliant," you remarked, warmed by her praise of your daughter. "She's had a lot thrown at her the past few months. I'm glad she's adjusting well. Rolling with the punches, as they'd say. That's all over with now. Chrissie, she comes 'round a lot, but it's always to see Maria, so there's never any shouting. If we disturb you at all, just let me know and we'll work out other arrangements."

She looked surprised, and a little irked. "I should hope I'm not so intolerant as to interfere in an arrangement that, quite frankly, isn't any of my business, especially if it's working for your family."

"Well, we just want to be sure and not wear out any welcome." It sounded lame, even to you, but she must have understood, for she relaxed a bit and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"I suppose that wasn't much of a welcome I gave you. I'm sorry about that. I was rather busy that day and, to be honest, meeting you and Maria was a blur. I hope you won't judge me on that one encounter."

"Of course not. I'm just saying that if Maria becomes a bother, just send her back my way. I'm glad she's seemed to find a friend in Luke."

"She has a good deal in common with Luke. His life has been somewhat turned on its head lately as well." Sarah Jane replied, getting up to take care of the whistling kettle. "I'm glad they're becoming friends. And Maria is welcome here anytime. She'll be good for Luke, I think. There's another boy, Clyde... do you remember him from earlier?"

Now that you were reminded, there had been another boy with them after they'd all met back up after the outages were done with. "That's his name?" That would be a good piece of information, you supposed.

"Yes, that was him." Sarah Jane returned to the table with two mugs of tea and an enigmatic smile that made you wonder about her a bit. "I have the feeling I'll be seeing a lot of him."

Now, that was quite a turnaround from the woman who had informed you only some days ago that she wasn't fond of noise and interruptions. "Well, if the kids get to be too much, you can send them across to me."

She shrugged, that enigmatic smile only getting wider. "Oh, I don't know. I might enjoy having Luke around, and his friends, more than I thought." She gave off a little shrug and a small noise that couldn't help but make you smile. She held up her mug. "Cheers?"

The poor woman had no idea what she was getting into with all these kids who might be hanging around. But you decided to allow her her illusions for the present and clinked her mug with yours. "Why not? To those kids."

What she said in return only confused you more. "To new beginnings."

That was when you really knew you liked her.


End file.
